I put my pants on one arm at a time
by mynamewastakenagain
Summary: It's never too late to fix a misunderstanding. (sorry for the title) Implied G!P.


**This is my first one-shot and I also wanted to try my hand at a little darker theme. I hope I did a good job. The only problem I see with my story is that I left the end opened...and of course the grammar but that has always been a problem.**

***Character Death**

**And one more thing I'm sorry if my description of what going to happen is not the best or accurate, I wanted to keep it ambiguous. **

* * *

"I cannot believe that you and Santana got a divorce. If the world is going to end on Valentine's Day, I would sooner believe that." Kurt says as he helps Brittany unpack into her new apartment.

Sadly it is true she and her high school sweetheart got married at 22 and now we are divorced at 34. She was truly happy with Santana, they had a family together with one son, but as the years went on they kept fighting more and more. When they fought it was so intense sometimes that it would leave them both in tears. They tried their best not fight in front of their son, Jonah, or in the face of company but would slip up at times. Brittany waited until Jonah went off to college before she ended things.

"It's for the best this way, Kurt. What we had was toxic. It wasn't healthy for either of us." She says as she puts clothes in my dresser.

"From the text I have received, I don't think Santana agrees. This says she is at the bar drinking away her troubles." He reads from his phone, "All I'm saying is that it was unexpected. You and Santana were like the model couple for all of us. Did you try going to a counselor about your problems?"

"No, I didn't see a point in doing that." She sighs, "Can we please stop talking about this? I want to get done with unpacking and have pizza."

Just because she was the one that filed for divorce doesn't mean that she still doesn't have feeling for my Ex-wife. She is the love of her life and always will be. Santana was miserable in their marriage and she let her out. It'll be lonely at night but it's all for the best.

/

"Happy Birthday, Mom!" Jonah says as Brittany open the door. A tall boy pulls her into a bone crushing hug. She let out small sounds of discomfort and he lets up, "Sorry, I don't know my own strength." He flexes.

He got his ego from Santana. He got most of his features from Santana. His hair, eyes, smile, cheekbone all from her, the only thing he didn't get was her height. Not that he got it from her either, he is six inches taller than Brittany. At times Brittany would wonder if he was even hers but when it was just them she saw they had the same personality.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class right now?" She asks, letting him in and sitting on the couch.

"Yeah but I didn't want you to spend your birthday alone since you and Mama aren't together now." He says as he runs his hand through his hair. It was one of his ticks if he didn't know if he should say something or not.

"It's okay. Have you spoke with your mama lately? I know how much she was going to miss you when you went off to college, even if it was only a couple of hours away." She smiles. Jonah has been at college for six months now. Santana and Brittany divorced a month afterwards.

"Yeah, she kept going on about how proud of me she was and how she remembers her college days. It was weird not having you and her talk to me at the same time to where I couldn't understand the words coming through the phone." He ran his hand through his hair again, "She didn't sound like she used to."

"I know I probably sound the same but we are going to have to get used to it. We had spent most of our lives together. It's going to take more than five months to adjust." Brittany stood up and pulls Jonah with her, "Come on let's go celebrate my birthday and go to that ice cream shop and get a shamrock shake."

On their way out Brittany let out a cough, "Are you alright? We can stay here and I can bake you a cake."

"No, I'm fine. It's only a cough, nothing big."

/

Brittany and Kurt are at a coffee shop talking when Brittany begins to have a cough fit, "Here, drink this, it might help." He says as he pushes his coffee towards her. When she calms down, Kurt speaks sounding concerned, "That cough has been there for a while. Have you been taking medicine to get rid of it?"

"I have." She answers in a hoarse voice, "It will go away for a few days and then it will come back. I set up an appointment. I'm going to go to the doctor tomorrow. Will you come with me?"

"Sure, Britt, I'll go. It's probably a virus or something. So are we going to her hospital or what?"

"We are going to a different hospital just to be safe." She sighs, "What if it's something serious and they go and tell."

"Brittany it's not going to serious, it's just a cough."

"Yeah you're right Kurt I'm worried over nothing."

/

"Hello Ms. Pierce, I'm Dr. Chang, tell me why you are here today?" Dr. Chang asks as he sits across from Brittany and Kurt.

"I have this cough that won't go away. I wanted to get that checked out so I can get better."

"I want to ask you a few questions, if that's alright?" Brittany nods, "Have you been experiencing any weight loss?" she nods, "Fatigue?"

"A little."

"Okay, I would like to get a blood test before anything is determined, after that we will give you a call for you to come back."

"There is nothing to worry about, right Doc?" Kurt asks.

"It shouldn't be I'm just running test to be certain."

A few days later she got a call back and wasn't good news.

/

"I'm not sure what to say." Jonah says when Brittany tells him the new, "I'll be there for you, Mom. We'll get through this together. I'll take a leave from school and get a job here so I won't miss any of your appointments. I'll be here every step of the way." He states on the verge of tears.

"Honey, I appreciate that but I can't have you put everything in your life on hold because of me. It's not fair to you." She argues, "I want you to stay in school and focus on your studies. You worked hard to get to where you are. I want you to keep it up."

"I won't be able to if my mom has Cancer." He counters rubbing his hand through his hair, "I want to be close by to take care of you. Mama isn't here to do that anymore. What if I transfer to a college close to here or even go to Lima's Community College to get all the basic credit and then transfer back." He desperately offers," By then you should be better. Please let me do this."

"Jonah, I really don't want you to but you have Mama's stubbornness so I'll let you for now. You can stay in the living room. I think this is a pullout couch." Brittany says looking at the couch, "You'll have to explain to Mama why you're here, can you leave my condition out of the conversation?"

"That's fine as long as I get to stay I'll do whatever you want."

/

Jonah was nervous about having to talk to his Mama about his transfer but now that he was at her office, his legs are shaking. He is all too familiar with the intimidating aura and cold stare that he was about to go home and try to explain over the phone when the door opens. Who he sees is not Santana but another lady, one with pale skin, brown hair, and blue eyes.

"Oh you must be Jonah. I recognize you from the pictures on your mom's desk. You are so much more handsome in real life." She compliments as she wipes her mouth, "I'm Dr. Rose by the way. We might be getting to know each other later on." She says on her way out.

"Jonah, what are you doing here?" A confused and flustered Santana asks as she smooth out the wrinkles out of her scrubs, "You're supposed to be at school."

Jonah repressed the urge to shudder at the thought of what happened before he came here to answer her, "We need to talk." Santana gestures for him to come into her office, "Can we not talk in your office? Can we talk outside or the cafeteria or any place else really that isn't your office?"

They walk to the cafeteria and take a seat, "So what are we going to talk about?"

"I'm transferring school for a while. At the start of the new school year I will be going to Lima's Community College."

"Why? The school you're going to now is the best there is for film, why would you down grade?" She asks skeptically, "What you're doing doesn't make any sense."

"It makes sense to me and that's all that matters. Everything has been planned out. When I go back to school for my last month there, I'll sign the papers. I move back down here and I'll move in with Mom."

"Why are you moving in with her? I know that she is living in a one bedroom apartment, it going to be cramped there. Wait did she tell you could come and live with her?" He nods, "Why are you moving here again?" She squints.

"I'm only staying for a year it's no big deal." He says rubbing his hand through his hair and getting up, "That's all I want to say, Bye Mama."

/

"What exactly did the doctor say?" Jonah asks. He and Brittany are driving to the hospital for her appointment when Jonah asked.

"He said that they were going to try chemotherapy to try to shrink it a little. Then they will try to remove it and after that we will have to see." She parks the car and turns to Jonah, "I'm really glad that you're here with me Jonah. I have to admit from all the stories I heard about Chemo, I'm scared. I don't think I could do this by myself."

"I'll always be there for you Mom." They got out of the car took a deep breath and proceed to go into the hospital.

It wasn't as bad as Brittany thought it would be. It was almost like having an IV placed in her arm. At the end of it Brittany was tired, so tired that Jonah had to drive them home. When they got home she was asleep and Jonah had to carry her into the apartment and put her to bed. Jonah got on his laptop and began to research what his mom could eat without it upsetting her stomach.

"Maybe soup, fruit, yogurt, and water…" He mumbles while writing it on a list of things to buy when he goes out. He is almost done when he hears a knock at the door. He goes to the door and looks through the peephole, "Mama." He whispers. He keeps the chain lock on when he opens the door. It's a good thing too or the door would have slammed open with the force Santana put on the door. It is enough force to knock Jonah on his butt with a thud.

The thud is loud enough to rouse Brittany out of bed, "Jonah, are you okay?" She asks as she holds the wall for support as she walks into the living room.

Jonah scrambles to his feet meeting his mom at the end of hall before she could see the door, "I'm okay, I dropped something you know how clumsy I can be sometimes. I'm going to go shopping for food that won't upset your stomach. You go get some rest I know how tired you are okay." Brittany nods and goes to her room as Jonah lets out a sigh of relief. He waits until the door to her is closed before he went back to the door. He looks through the crack and doesn't see his mama. He goes out and closes the door behind him, locks the door, and goes to the car.

"Why didn't you want your mom to see me?" Santana asks making Jonah jump out of his skin.

"I-I-It's not that I didn't want you to see her. She has the flu right now so I wanted her to get her rest. She should be better by Sunday. You can come then." He explains rubbing his hand through his hair, "I have to go I don't know how long she will be asleep for. I want to have something ready for when she wakes up." He hurries to the car before Santana can say anything about it.

/

"Santana, it's nice to see you after so long. I heard you came by earlier but I was feeling a bit under the weather." Brittany says as Santana sits in the chair across from the couch and Jonah sits next to her, "What is new with you?"

"I think we both know why I'm here. Why are you okay with Jonah changing colleges?" She asks getting right to it.

"I wasn't at first but he is an adult now he can make decision for himself and it's not like he is going to stay here. He said that he is going to stay for a year then goes back. I saw no problem with it."

"Okay, fair enough, but why did he decide to do that?"

"Because there is a girl I care for here." Jonah blurts out, "She is really special to me and I couldn't stand being away from her. That's part of the reason I'm staying here. She lives in the same building as Mom. I didn't tell you because I was kind of embarrass and I knew Mom wouldn't judge me as much." He says rubbing his hand through his hair.

"I think that answer your question and maybe even another." Brittany states as she tries to suppress a smile.

"Okay fine, I'm judgmental." Santana says crossing her arms. Her pager goes off and she looks at it, "I have to go. Dr. Rose wants me to come in Cider."

"Oh god." Jonah groans as he lays his head on Brittany's shoulder. He knew it was the name of that wing but that is not how the words went through his mind. Brittany didn't understand her son's distress. Santana on the other hand did and now she knows why he didn't want to come into her office.

"I'm going now." She says in a flustered way.

/

Over the course of the weeks of Brittany's Chemo, things were almost the same as the first time except for as the weeks went by Brittany's hair fell out. Jonah got a job and it was almost time for him to start school, Santana still doesn't know Brittany has Cancer. It was her last session and what was meant to be a good day didn't turn out all that good.

"I have to have surgery tonight?"

"Yes, I'm sorry I didn't catch this sooner but it seems to be spreading. If we try to remove it now we can try Chemo again and we see if that will work." The Doctor says, "Your surgery is at 7 so you should by 5:45." He left after that.

"I can't believe it is spreading, what if they can't stop it?!" Brittany cries.

"It will be alright, Mom. We can get through this." Jonah says pulling his mom in to a hug as tears stream down his face.

They left and came back the same day ready for surgery. It wasn't until the next day that they were told that there was nothing that the surgeons could do for her. Brittany and Jonah spent the whole day crying and holding each other.

After Brittany feel asleep, a broken Jonah went back home to think. After Brittany's third week on Chemo her hair began to fall out and she stopped working. They were living off her savings and Jonah's part-time job. What will they do now that they have to pay hospital bill until she…He couldn't even think about the rest as began to cry again. He knows his Mom won't like it and his Mama will demand an explanation but he is going to have stop going to school for a while and get two jobs.

/

Jonah is rudely awakened by the hammering on his door. He goes to open the door not even bothering to look through the peephole, "What the hell is going?!" Santana yells making her way into the apartment, "I go to visit you for lunch and I learn that you dropped out three week before school even starts!" Jonah rubs his tired face and scratches his stubbly chin, "Where is your Mom?"

"She went on a cruise." He replies automatically. He been telling everyone who has come by looking for his mom that for the last two months, "I'm sure she'll be back as good as new." He says rubbing his hand through his hair.

"Why did you drop out?"

"It's complicated, okay!" He yells not meaning to he has been really stress and lashing out, "I'll go back when I can. Right now is not a good time!"

"I don't know who you think you're yelling at but you better recognized soon. You never talk to me like." Santana yells back at an equal volume.

He looks down at his watch, "I don't have time for this. Mama I'm politely asking you to leave so I can go get ready for a meeting." He says walking to the bathroom.

"We are not done talking." Santana say grabbing his shoulder and turning him around, "I am your mother and I asked you a question and I expect you to answer them. Now I don't know how things work with Brittany but obviously she is doing a horrible job because your attitude is unforgivable."

Jonah punches the wall, "You have no right to say that. Don't talk about mom like that. She is doing a fine job of raising me. If it weren't for her I wouldn't be the person I am today. I would have never known I had a passion for film when she gave me my first camera or many other things. I wish that you were on that cruise instead of her. Get out of our apartment!" He explodes. Santana slowly leaves and when the door closes Jonah drops to his knees, clutching his hand, and screams in pain, anguish, and sorrow.

When he gets up he gets ready and goes to the hospital. He tells his mom what happen, "Jonah I want you to go to your Mama right now and apologize. She might not know what you meant by cruise but you never wish what I have onto another person. I understand that you were upset and stressed out but go apologize."

"I will, I promise."

"That's my good boy." She says stroking his face, giggling a little at the peach fuzz on his face, "Going for the rugged look. I must say I'll miss your baby face but I think it looks good on you. Though I thought you couldn't grow hair like Kurt."

"Mom!" He whines.

/

"It's November and I know that I go to Mama's for that but can I stay with you this time." Jonah asks sitting in one of the chairs by the bed watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving Special.

"You don't want to stay in a hospital on Thanksgiving go have a good time at your Mama's house." Brittany counters, "The food here isn't even that good, No offense Cheryl." She says as Cheryl puts her food on a tray. Cheryl threw her hand back as a sign of no problem as she walks out of the room, "I wouldn't want you to suffer."

"I would rather stay here with you."

"Think of it as doing a favor for me." She knew Jonah couldn't resist doing favors for her, "If you do that you can bring yourself back for a sleepover with mom."

"Deal."

/

"Well this is a surprise. I thought for sure that you were going to stay with your mom this holiday." Santana says as she opens the door, "Or is she not back from her cruise?"

"I was forced to come here." He answers ignoring the second half of the sentence. Jonah did apologize to Santana but that doesn't mean he still isn't bitter about it, "Mom said that she wanted me to have a good time here and said that I can leave at 7 or 8 o'clock."

"Oh aren't you charming." Dr. Rose says from the side of Santana, "This should be an interesting Thanksgiving." They move out of the way to let him in. Once he is inside Dr. Rose looks at the clock, "And you decide to come at 6:30."

"She never said what time I had to be here, Dr. Rose."

"Please, we are not at the hospital call me Marley."

"I'd rather not, Dr. Rose."

They all sit at the table in an awkward silence until Santana speaks, "So if your mom told you that you have to be here that must mean that she is back from her cruise that she was on?" Jonah shakes his head, "Then what is stopping you from not coming here?"

"You might try to break the door down like last time and she will figure out I wasn't here." He says keeping his head down, "I don't want to talk about Mom. Tell me how you and Dr. Rose met, Mama."

"Funny you asked." Dr. Rose speaks up a little drunkenly, "I was new to town and I met her at a bar and she was drunk out of her mind. She was coming on to me and spilling her drink all over me and out of pity I went home with her. Imagine my surprise when she has something downstairs that I wasn't expecting."

"Marely, I think that's enough." Santana laughs nervously, "How about we start eating."

After they were done eating they moved to the living room to watch football by half time Jonah gets up, hugs his mama, and leaves.

/

It is the first day of December when Santana is at a conference at another hospital. She had just gotten out when she spots Jonah. She follows him until he goes into room 34A. Why would Jonah be going in there? Maybe that girl he was talking about got into an accident. She walks up to the nurses' station.

"Excuse me but can you tell me who is in 34A?" She asks after getting one of the nurses' attention.

"Hmm" The nurse hums looking for the file," The patient in that room 34A is Brittany S. Pierce. She has been here since August. Her son comes and visits almost every day."

"Why is she here?"

"She has Cancer and it seems that they couldn't remove it so she only has so much time left." She answers sadly, "It's a shame really, and she brightens up our day even with her condition."

"Thank you." Then she leaves not even hearing the nurse's reply. As she leaves everything begins to move in slow motion as she leaves the building. When she got home, she doesn't even know how she got home, she breaks down. It all made sense to her now. Why Jonah transferred school. Why he didn't want her seeing Brittany. Why he dropped out. Why he blew up at her. He was taking care of Brittany.

Brittany is dying and the only people who knew are Brittany and Jonah, and now her too.

/

"Is someone there?" Brittany asks. She heard the door open but no one has come out yet, "Jonah if that's you, cut it out. You know that gives me the creeps."

"I'm sorry, Brittany." She gasps at the familiar voice not expecting her Ex-wife to step out from the shadows.

This is the first time that they saw each other in months. Brittany looks really skinny and tired. Her hair isn't as long anymore, it more of a buzz cut. But to Santana Brittany is still beautiful.

"How did you know I was here?" Asks a shocked Brittany, "I know Jonah would never tell you."

"I was in a conference earlier today when I saw Jonah and I followed him here. I thought he was visiting that girl he liked. I asked the nurse for information on this room and what I was told broke me into pieces." She explains as she walks closer to the bed, "Why are you keeping this a secret?"

"Santana I don't want to talk about this right now."

"You're dying Brittany! I learned about this today of course I want to talk about it. I can't wait until you're ready because I don't know if when you're ready you're going to die two minutes afterwards." Santana argues.

"Don't be that way. I don't want to fight with you."

"I'm not fighting with you. I just want to know why you didn't tell me at least?!" it was silent for a moment before Santana continues. "I'm your best friend. I'm your Wife. I was everything to you and if not to you, you were for me. If I was in the same position you are in, you would have been the very first call made. Why didn't you tell me? I could have taken care of all the bills. I could have taken care you. We could have gone through this together but no, we didn't." She sobs, "I loved you, and I still do. I love y-"

Brittany pulls her down with what strength she does have left and kisses her on the cheek, "Santana, I love you too. It was never a matter of whether or not I loved you enough. I thought it could be taken care of, and then it took an unexpected turn. I didn't know how to tell my loved ones that I'm dying."

"I will help you. I'll be there until the very end." Santana hesitated before asking, "Can I lie with you?" Brittany nods and scoots over to make room. It ended with Brittany on top of Santana cuddling. They stayed that way until they fell asleep.

When Jonah came in the next day, he is surprised to see his moms sleeping together on the bed. He went and sat in his usual chair smiling at the scene. He takes his phone out and takes a picture to save for later.

/

Santana invited all of her and Brittany's friends and family to her house to give them the news. Everyone is packed into her living room waiting for her to start, "Excuse me everyone, Jonah and I have some news to give you about Brittany." She says swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Oh my god, did something happen to the boat she was on?" Kurt asks.

"No…the cruise she was on is a lie." They all gasp and break out into a murmur, "Brittany has been in the hospital. She has been diagnosed with Cancer." Santana's voice breaks

Jonah wraps his arm around Santana, letting her cry into his side as he continues for her, "Some time back in April, Mom went to the doctor and got the news. She went through chemo but it wasn't doing much to stop it. They tried to remove it but there was nothing else that they could do." He states trying to keep his voice strong, "We don't know how much time she has left."

Kurt is the first to cry out of the shocked silence, "I went with her to the doctor. He said there was nothing to worry about. Brittany even told me that everything was fine."

"If you want to see her she is at Oak Hospital, room 34A. I'm going to answer the main question that you have so you won't bother her. Why didn't you tell? She didn't tell because she thought that they could get rid of it and when they couldn't, it would be hard telling her loved ones she was dying." Santana fills in, "When you go there try not to be sad, show her nothing but love and support."

After Santana and Jonah were done talking, everyone went to the hospital. They spent time reminiscing over funny stories, their childhoods, and etc…

"I must say it was a bit overwhelming when everyone I knew was in the room." Brittany says when it's only her and Santana left in the room. They were lying in the same position as they were the first night, a week and a half ago, "But I enjoyed seeing them overall. Thanks for doing that for me, Santana."

"I would do anything for you." Santana goes to kiss her but at the last minute Brittany turns her head, "What's wrong?"

"You're in a relationship and if I have ever lived by one thing Brittany S. Pierce is not a home wrecker. I don't want you to ruin your relationship with Dr. Rose over me. I've never met her but if she was able to get you, she must be a good person."

"Brittany, my relationship with Marley is nothing more than a friends-with-benefits type deal." She holds Brittany's hand as she explains, "From the start I told her that I was still in love with you and in the off chance that you would take me back, I'm going to take it. So if Brittany S. Pierce were to kiss me, she wouldn't be a home wrecker. I know that we are not together but I know we still love each other. So while we still can, do you think we can give us another try?"

"Santana, I don't know. It's true that I still love you but I don't know. Look at me."

"I don't care what you look like. You're still the love of my life regardless of a disease. I think you're beautiful and should have tried to convince you not to divorce me. I'm not going to easily give up this time. "Santana counters hugging her close.

Brittany snuggles into the crook of Santana's neck returning her hug, "You said you would do anything for me right?" Santana hums a yes. "Sing our wedding song."

Santana begins to sing Song Bird and with the vibration from her chest and the melody of the song lulls Brittany to sleep but before she falls asleep she thinks that it wouldn't be so bad to give Santana another chance.

/

Brittany and Santana are sitting on a bench outside of the hospital enjoying the day when a thought hits Brittany, "You haven't been to work since you found out about me. I think it's time for you to go back." Santana grunts at the idea, "Come on, Jonah doesn't stay all the time. He goes to work."

"I can still do my work from here but I won't. Let's have the whole month of December for us and then January I'll go back. I promise."

"You can be a little kid sometimes, you know that."

"Give me a break!" she laughs with Brittany joining in, "I just want spend time with you. Have you been thinking what you want for Christmas? I'll get you whatever you want."

"I don't want anything really. You and Jonah will be spending Christmas with me that will make me happy." She leans on Santana, "I'm sorry I can't get you something for Christmas."

"Your presence is my present." She says as she puts her arm around her getting comfortable.

"You're so cheesy." Brittany smiles and kisses Santana's cheek.

/

It was as if they never got a divorce in Jonah's eyes. They weren't fighting. They were doing lovey dovey teenage stuff and it is starting to make him feel uncomfortable. He is happy for them of course because his parents have never been happier but at a certain point, it is too much.

"Mom, Mama, please stop." Jonah voices and the two women on the bed stop giggling and turns to their son, "You two are my parents and being so close when you make kissy faces at each other is disgusting to your son."

"I can't help it. Your Mama's is one hot lady." Brittany winks to Santana who looks away bashfully.

"Barf, I think I'm going to be sick." They all share a laugh, "Seriously, you both act like this with each other, why did you ever get a divorce?" And after that the air stilled and it was awkward, "Never mind, I'm sorry I brought it up." He says rubbing his hand through his hair.

"It is fine Jonah, I'll tell you." Brittany sighs, "You know we got married when you were six and we were 22. Well, not that she didn't love me enough to marry me one day, Santana was actually forced to marry me at the time. After our honeymoon she began medical school and becoming a doctor is stressful. She had a kid to take care of and had to keep up with studies and then the internship took its toll. She was easily irritated and we would fight. I couldn't it take anymore. I did what I thought would be best."

"Jonah can you leave the room for a moment? I want to speak with your mom alone." Jonah nods and leaves, "Is that really what you thought?" She nods, "No you have it all wrong. I could handle it. I could handle everything. I just thought that you didn't want to be married to me that you only stayed because Jonah was there. It made me upset that's why I would fight with you or ignore you. Even though I was forced, marrying you was one of the happiest days of my life. When you left me it only confirmed my suspicions and sent me into a spiraling depression that I thought booze could fix."

"I wish I had known that before." Brittany says wiping away her tears, "I've never been happier than when I am with you. I made a mistake, I'm so sorry." Santana pulls her into hug, "I'm so stupid, this is my entire fault." She cries into her shoulder.

"No you're not. You know I don't like it when you say that. We had a major miscommunication problem. It's both of our faults but what matters now is that we found out and now we can move on from it."

/

Christmas has passed and now it's that weird week in between Christmas and New Year's. It is one of the rare times that it has been Brittany and Jonah in the room without Santana. She said something about setting up a surprise before she left.

"Jonah, I have to speak to you about this and I need you to be strong for me." She says turning down the volume on the TV, "I don't have that much time left."

"Don't speak like that, Mom." Jonah protests sitting up from his seat, "Let's focus on good things."

"There is a difference between focusing and pretending and we both know I'm right. At the most I have three to two months left. I need you to promise me to look after your Mama. We have recently reconciled only for us to soon be ripped apart but this time we won't get the pleasure of seeing each other again by chance. Be there for her when I go or she'll do something she will regret. She was never one to handle her emotions well. I know it's a lot to take in but please try. I won't be there to pick up the pieces this time."

"Who's going to help me then?" He asks in a small voice.

"Mama is of course it's both of your jobs to take care of each other, which is what a family does."

"I have it all set up!" Santana voices as she comes into the room, "On New year's Eve, how long do you think you can stay up."

"Nine maybe half past ten if I try really hard to stay up."

"Perfect." Santana goes to sit in the chair on the other side of the bed, "What were you two talking about before I got here?"

"How much you drool in your sleep, honey." Brittany then leans over to Jonah, "That's where you get it from." Jonah chuckles at the face Santana made, "I hope you find someone who thinks it's cute like I did with your Mama."

"At least I don't snore like a muffler on an old car when I sleep." Santana counters, "That's where you get it from. I hope you find someone who thinks it's cute like I did with your Mom." She mocks.

"Hey don't point out my flaws." Brittany pouts.

"You started it." She laughs and kisses her pout away, "I like your snoring, it helps me get to sleep at night."

/

It is too cold for Brittany to go outside so Santana has to settle for wheeling Brittany to the top floor window to show Brittany her surprise.

"Where is Jonah? I thought he was going to watch with us." Brittany asks.

"I told him what is going to happen and he decided that he is going to stay down stairs and record it from there." She explains pulling out a mini camera, "He also wants me to record your reaction." She holds up the camera pushing record and pointing at Brittany, "Look at you on camera. Remind you anything."

"Santana, stop it." She laughs out of embarrassment. Santana was referring to their sex tape they made for them on one of their anniversaries. Eventually when Jonah was eight and found it, they destroyed it from existence.

Santana laughs pulling out here phone and sending a text, "Okay it should be happening in about a few seconds."

"What's happening?" Santana points to the window and Brittany's eyes light up.

The sky began to be filled with an array of colorful lights. The popping of the fireworks was slightly muffled with the window acting as a barrier. In the sky popped all of her favorite things cats, ducks, rainbow and etc. The last few were picture an eye, a picture of a heart, and Brittany's name.

"Tell us how you liked the show?" Santana asks stilling recording.

"I loved it." When Santana put the camera back in her pocket, Brittany gets up from her chair and hugs Santana with all she has got, "I love you so much."

"I love you too." She says returning the hug, "Happy New Year's."

/

Santana had to go back to work and is not happy with not being by Brittany's side but she made a promise and she is going to stick with it no matter how much she wants to break. She is interrupted from her thoughts when Dr. Rose comes into her office.

"I heard you came in today. I haven't seen you in over a month. Where have you been hiding?" Dr. Rose smiles, "Did things work out with you and Brittany?" She asks as she takes a seat across from Santana.

"Yeah they did, it turned out to be a huge misunderstanding." She says with a sad smile.

"Hey don't look that way. You got her back. You should be jumping for joy."

"Yeah I got her back but she is going to leave me again. She has Cancer. I stayed in the hospital with her almost 24 hours a day. She has her serious moments but most of the time she's joking around as if she doesn't have an incurable disease. It amazes me but she has always amazed in some way or another."

"I'm sorry to hear about that, Santana. How long does she have left?"

"I don't want to think about that." She answers coldly.

"Right, sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I don't want to be here and I'm taking it out on you. She made me promise to go back to work after December." She laughs bitterly, "This actually reminds me of a few months ago when I went to her apartment to question her about why our son had dropped out of college. I sort of insulted Brittany's ability to be a good parent and he blew up at me. She hadn't told anyone at the time that she was in the hospital with Cancer. Our son was telling everyone she was on a cruise. He dropped out to get another job so that he could take care of all the bills. That's why he transferred here in the first place. I feel like such an ass when I learnt all of that." She's rubbing her forehead, "I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you this."

"I glad you told me that. If you ever need someone to listen I'm here."

"She wants to meet you. She once told me that you must be a good person to be able to get me."

"I would like to meet her too. She sounds like a treat."

"I think you two would get along great."

The next day Santana came into Brittany's room with Dr. Rose.

"Oh my goodness, is that who I think it is? I didn't think you were going to bring her so soon." An excited Brittany says.

"Well when I told her that you wanted to meet her, she said she wanted to too." Santana explains leading Dr. Rose to the seat by Brittany.

"It's nice to meet you, Brittany. I'm Marley, and it nice to see you again, Jonah."

"Dr. Rose." Jonah replies only to get hit in the arm by Brittany, "It's nice to see you too, Marley."

"I'm sorry about him. Usually he knows how to treat adults. I don't know what has gotten into him." Brittany apologizes, "Tell me a little about you, Marley."

"I'm 35 years old. I am originally from Florida but came up here to work at the hospital Santana works at. I live by myself with a cat. Besides Santana, he is my only friend that I trust." Marely explains.

"I too use to have cat that doubled as my best friend. His name was Lord Tubbington. He was kind of on the chubby side of the life scale. Once I almost threw out my back trying to pick him up. It was like him and gravity was working together that day." They both laugh. Santana sat next to Jonah watching them converse with a smile on her face.

/

January passes too quickly for Santana's liking but she can't deny that she isn't excited about Valentine's Day. Valentine's is Brittany favorite holiday over all because it gives her more of an excuse to be clingy to Santana.

Santana walks in and places a rose in a vase and stands over Brittany's Bed. She is still asleep so Santana takes the time to observe her beauty. Over the time that Santana has seen her, her hair has grown. It's more of a pixie cut now. She isn't as skinny as before but she is still skinny. Her skin is even paler than before.

Brittany's eyes slowly open to see Santana standing over her, "Wow, I woke up to such a pretty face this morning." Santana makes a funny face and Brittany laughs, "Beautiful."

"You know what day it is?"

"Cling to Santana Day." She exclaims holding out her arms. Santana nods and moves to lie with her in bed, "Let's not do anything. No gifts or romantic gestures. Let's lay here and watch bad television."

"Do you remember our first Valentine's Day as a couple?"

"How could I forget? That was the day that Jonah was conceived. It's also the day that Santana Lopez would be forever mine and I would be hers. You know I remember everything about that day?"

"Really like what?"

"We were the only ones in the house and you weren't trying to pressure me into having sex with you like anyone else would have. You were satisfied with holding my hand or kissing my cheek. It surprised me when I was the one to make the first move. You weren't rough and you put my needs before your own. It was magical. I knew then and there that I didn't want anyone else."

"What happened to no romantic gestures?" Santana chuckles.

"I'm not being romantic. I'm stating facts and don't think I didn't see that rose over there. No gifts!"

"That was there before the rules were placed." Santana playfully argues and smiles when she sees Brittany's tired smile.

"Santana, I'm tired."

"Go to sleep I'll be here when you wake up."

/

February was already a short month before but never in either Brittany or Santana's life had it felt shorter. It March now and it is Brittany's birthday and much like in December people were piled into her room. They tried their best to circle around the bed to sing Happy Birthday.

As they began to sing Brittany looks at the faces singing to her and couldn't keep her tears in. This would probably be the last time she saw most of her friends and family. This would be her last birthday. Her last Thanksgivings, Christmas, New Year's, Valentines.

When they were done singing she spoke, "Thanks for making this the best birthday ever." She cries with as much sincerity as possible. Everyone did their best to give her a group hug. Santana and Jonah were on either sides of her holding her the tightest.

Brittany had fallen asleep before any of her guests had left.

/

"I want to say that I'm sorry for not telling you sooner." Brittany starts as she lies in bed with her eyes closed. She knew Santana is sitting by her, "I'm sorry for getting a divorce. I'm sorry I didn't look more into it. I'm sorry for all the fights we had. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to say sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for." Santana says taking a hold of her hand, "We could have done things differently but that's all in the past. Half of it is my fault too."

"I love you, Santana. I want you to know that out of everything in life that is an absolute truth."

"I love you too, Brittany I always will. Nothing will ever change that."

"Will you sit there and hold my hand?"

"Of course."

Santana woke up a few hours later when the most familiar noise hit her ears with dread. She lifts up her hand and kisses it before placing it back on the bed and leaving to informing a nurse.


End file.
